Best Places20608, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20608, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
20608 ranks 23,438th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20608
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
20608's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20608 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Household income$112,765 median, better than 87% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 20608 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Short commute43.1 minutes each way, better than only 2% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20608
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20608 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $112,765, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 20608's effective rate of 0.89%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 20608
20608 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20608.
Who works in 20608, and how
Work in 20608 centers on public administration and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 20608
The coast is about 30 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20608, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20608, month by month
20608 sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 20608
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 25 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 20608
Schools across 20608 average a D+, better than 11% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Baden ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gwynn Park MiddleD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Gwynn Park HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20608 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20608 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 20608 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20608
Is 20608 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20608 ranks 23,438th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, big-city access, and quiet, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20608 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $490,410. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $112,765 median income, cost of living beats 76% of zip codes.
Is 20608 safe?
20608 is safer than 9% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $623 per resident a year.
Compare 20608 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20608. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20608 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
20608 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20608: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20608: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20608: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20608: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20608 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.